Jamal Zarabozo – A Guide for the New Muslim Part 2
AI: Summary ©
The importance of the Quran in driving people to strictity is emphasized, as it is used to guide individuals in practicing Islam. Visits to the Prophet's teachings and avoiding confusion are emphasized, as it is important to learn the meaning of Islam, preserving Hadiths, and processing them in order to be considered authentic. The importance of acceptance in Islam is discussed, as it is a movement towards the fundamental values of Islam. The speaker uses examples from the ancient Egyptians and how they were supposed to be the first people to come to a matriarch after the return of the Great War. The importance of fearing gods and the idea of a matriarch are also discussed.
AI: Summary ©
Bismillah
Alhamdulillah wa salatu salam ala nabina Muhammad
Muhammad Abdul
is at the range Allah will have our second lecture
in this series on a guide for the new Muslim.
And as I mentioned last time, what we'll be discussing today inshallah,
at least beginning with this discussion of the sources of Islam, the effect that the Quran has on human beings and how it changed, for example, the society the problems of settlement, how it continues to change people today. This is another racket aspect of the Quran,
the nature of the laws of the Quran, and its flexible nature and so forth that we might discuss some aspect of all this is part of the miraculous nature of the Quran.
And even this nowadays, is one aspect that some people refer to as the the scientific miracles of the Quran. How we find this, there are many scientific facts being discovered today. And in reality, when we compare them to what the Quran has already alluded to, some 1400 years ago, we find that they are completely consistent with what the Quran has stated and perhaps even more important, or more.
From a secular point of view, a more amazing aspect is that there were many beliefs during the time of problems that were related to science and so forth. And many of those beliefs have been shown to be wrong, they're not consistent with contemporary science and so forth.
However, you'll find none of those strange and incorrect beliefs found in the Quran. Everything that the Quran states has been consistent has been shown to be consistent with science and every way. And so this is one of the aspects
the miraculous aspects of the Quran.
As I said, during the time, the boss I sent him the literary aspect with respect to the Arabs at that time, the literary aspect was perhaps the most fascinating. Nowadays, people are more maybe into science and nature and so forth. And especially in the West, they've seen how their, their book was not compatible with with science and there was a big conflict between church and science, religion and science in the West. And so now, perhaps a more amazing aspect of the Quran is the scientific side with the gold, the scientific miracles of the Quran. But it just demonstrates how the Quran which has been meant for all mankind from the time the Prophet says element of the day of
gentlemen, how the Quran continues to produce miraculous results or the miraculous nature of the Quran continues to shine in different ways and different times, showing to all of us again, that this could only be a revelation from Allah subhanho wa Taala.
Now, let me just emphasize a couple of other points with with respect to the Quran. And that is that with respect to the Muslims of today, even those Muslims who grew up as Muslim and so forth, there's a problem sometimes emphasizing what we could call secondary aspects of the Quran and forgetting the main purpose of the Quran. For example, you will find among Muslims especially what we would, I guess what some people would call maybe traditional Muslims.
Almost every Muslim you'll meet has a great deal of respect for
you know, they will not treat the Quran in a disrespectful manner whatsoever
they'll put it in the in the most respected place in their house and you'll see it when you enter the house of the high on a shelf and so forth. The problem though is if you pick it up, you'll find probably it's very dusty, because it hasn't actually been patched it hasn't been read.
This is not the proper way obviously to respect the Quran. The Quran is not meant to be put off in some place and just look at from a distance and and like frame something of that nature. So this kind of respect for and this is actually a false respect of the Quran. Because this is not what the Quran is demanding from us, oh, this is not what the crowd wants from us. And so if we want to respect the Quran properly, we should deal with it in the proper manner.
So one one important aspect is never to get into this
trap of thinking that we respect the Quran while at the same time not reading the Quran and not turning to the Quran
and even when it comes to reading the Quran
you know, there are many people who who read the Quran and there is no doubt
There is no doubt that there are blessings in reading Quran for every lesson for every letter that you read inshallah, there is a special reward from Allah subhanaw taala. So there is no doubt that the reading of the Quran is very important.
But unfortunately there are many Muslims who simply emphasize the reading of the Quran
in a sense of just reading its words, in fact, some of them don't even know the Arabic language. They may have read the Quran 5060 100 times in their lives from beginning to end, maybe every Ramadan, for example, they read the Quran,
but they are just reading it at a superficial level.
They are reading it without getting the meaning of it.
And this is not really and you can you can even argue at least from an English point of view, you can even argue that this is not even reading.
If I give you some words on a page, and I asked you Do you know how to read and you just voice out those words without knowing what it says you're not really reading the passage.
So they are they are emphasizing something
which is the medium upon which in itself is important. But it is not the goal. Just saying the words of the Quran, this is not the goal, even of the reading itself.
In another aspect that there that you'll find many Muslims also emphasizing
is the memorization of the Quran.
And the memorization of the Quran is also very important in order as part of the preservation of the Quran. And no one can downplay the importance of memorization. And in the prayers we recite the Quran, so for every Muslim,
every Muslim has to memorize some of the Quran.
But again, suppose you find someone who has memorized the whole Quran but he's never studied the meaning of crime maybe even doesn't even know what he's reciting.
Obviously, this is not the goal. This is not the purpose.
Basically what what I'm what I'm saying is that
it is important to realize what the Quran is all about. The Quran is not simply meant for example, just to be read, and not to be pondered, or
not to be thought about not to not to try to understand what are its implications. What is it trying to tell?
For example, Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran,
this can be translated as, here is a book which we have sent down unto you full of blessings, that you may meditate on his verses and the people of understanding may receive admonition.
So, this is a book we have sent down unto you and this is in the singular, we have sent down unto you or problem Hamas wasallam
full of blessings, that they plural the people, the people who receive it, may meditate on it versus not just recite this verses, not just read it verses not just memorize his verses, but that they met me meditate and ponder over the meaning of his verses. And so that and also that the people of understanding, may receive admonish, may receive admin and donation bit So in other words, so that it will penetrate into their hearts and have an effect upon
the Quran. As I said the Quran first and foremost, the Quran is a book of guidance.
The Quran is the book of Gods when you open the Quran, obviously the first surah that you read in the Quran sort of confetti
and Surah Al Fatiha is actually a prayer for guidance, right. Everyone says when they're when they're reciting and the fact how when they're reading and fattier dinner in a Serato stuffing guide us and to the stripper.
So then you turn to the next page in the Quran.
The next page in the Quran, the opening of surah baqarah and Allah subhana wa tada opens this book, The Quran, the next page of the Quran by saying
this is the book we're of, there's no doubt a guidance to those who are pious. So in Surah, Al Fatiha we make dua
to Allah subhanho wa Taala to give us guidance
and then in
The next page of the Quran Surah Baqarah. Allah subhanho wa Taala is is, this is the game. This is the game.
This is what you're looking for.
Wallace henwood Allah also says, in numerous places before Allah subhanaw taala highlights this aspect, for example, this one autolysis
movie
there's come through from Allah, a light.
And a perspicuous book with Allah guides all who seek His good pleasure two ways, a peace and safety and leads them out of darkness by his will, and through the light guiding them to a path that is strict.
So again, this book,
The purpose of the goal behind this book is to give us this guidance to show us the statement to lead us to a path that is strict.
And so when you emphasize other aspects of the Quran, or when you just read the Quran, just to read it for the sake of blessings for each letter that you recite, or you just memorize, even memorize the whole Quran, or you're reading it just for example, some people do, and there's some basis for this, there's basis for this and add it to cure an illness or something of this nature.
When you are using the Quran in this fashion, you are missing the entire main purpose of
it is to give us guidance,
it is to bring us guidance.
And so therefore, the goal is to try to understand this Quran to try to seek the guidance that the Quran has given us.
And this can only be done if we really tried to turn to the Quran, and study it and understand it properly.
And inshallah I will discuss some of the books that are available in English inshallah, that will help us towards that goal.
But that will leave with discussion of the literature towards the end of this lecture. But before moving from the Quran, there's, there's another very important point that I need to make.
And this point, the reason why I'm highlighting this point, or this point, I can say is more mostly directed towards
many of us who come from a Christian background, or a Jewish background.
And sometimes we have a tendency to treat the Quran
in the same way that we that many of us I should say, not all of us, and the same way that many of us treated the Bible before became.
And we have to realize that there are many, many, many differences between the Bible and between the poor on
the most obvious of them again is that the the Quran is nothing but the words of Allah Subhan with that, it is a direct revelation from Allah subhana wa that
it is not like the Bible in which there's stories of prophets and people writing the history of prophets and so forth. And people writing letters to one another, and these are
the work of human beings.
If you look in the Bible, whether the Old Testament or New Testament, the actual passages where God says something, or where God is quoted, are very limited.
This is what would be equivalent, if they're all authentic, this would be the nature of revelation that is found on the Quran.
So we many of us come from this background where we know that the Bible is, you know, it's not just a revelation from God, but as humans writing about different things. And we're also many of us, came from a background where we know that there was lots of problems with the Bible, historical problems with the Bible, you know, with respect to the authenticity of the Bible, with respect to the fact that the Bible says things that, for example, as I alluded to earlier, scientific scientifically, just cannot be true anymore.
And so therefore, many Christians have this attitude towards the Bible that the Bible is true and in a general sense, but not true when it comes to the details. In other words, there's like a lesson. You have to learn the lesson that is there in the Bible, but don't be too concerned.
With the literal statements of the Bible and the exact words of the Bible that the Bible is saying, because, you know, this robot touched upon human human interference, and so forth. So you're just looking for the overall spirit, the message that is found in the Bible.
As I said, many of us, when we entered into Islam, we came from this background.
Myself, for example, was one of them. And I've met many people along the way, also, with this with this background. And unfortunately, sometimes this attitude towards the Bible is then turned into the attitude towards the Quran,
where the actual words of the Quran and then the the literal meanings of the Quran, are not taking that seriously.
You know, it's not the details, it's not the literal words and meanings that are important. It's the general overall message.
Again, it might be based on the fact that you think maybe it's somehow it's been distorted hasn't been preserved properly, and you're just looking for God's overall message and so forth. But again, the nature of the Quran is completely different from the nature of the Bible. And the history of the Quran is completely different from the history of the world. This is the exact words that Alyssa hanworth Allah has revealed.
And Allah only speaks the truth.
So no matter what, how detailed,
concerning any aspect of life that Allah subhanho wa Taala, as mentioned in the Quran, you know that it is the truth. It is the it is the truth that is what Allah has meant to say, it is what the last set, and there's no reason to ignore it in any fashion, there's no reason to try to give you some other kind of more general meaning and so forth. It is truly what is meant to be in the revelation.
And so therefore, each passage of the Quran, you have to take it at face value, or that this is exactly what the listener what data is revealed. And these are the words of all is fine with that.
And of course, by the way, just as a footnote, when I'm speaking about the Quran,
the Quran is the Arabic word the last man without reveal to the problem now says Adam, is in a very pure Arabic
the translation of the Quran is not the Quran,
it might be some mistakes in the translation, there might be something although hamdulillah most of the you know, most of the translations from the letter I've seen are pretty accurate.
But in any case, still when I'm speaking about the Quran, in reality, the Quran is the Arabic text and this is another By the way, this is another distinct or unique characteristic of the Quran.
We have the Quran in its original language of Revelation, and that language actually is still alive today.
And so therefore anything other than than the actual Arabic is not the Quran.
The best translation in English is not the Quran.
And so therefore we don't read the best translation and the purse for example, because it is not the Quran the Quran is the Arabic the original Arabic as it was revealed to the assassin.
Anyway, as I said, that was more of a footnote. But the point is that that attitude towards the front has to be different from the attitude that many of us had towards the Bible before we became before we came. Let me go on now to speak a little bit about some of the promises of the promises and these two together the Quran and the Sunnah form the foundations of Islam.
They are both guidance from Allah subhanaw without a revelation from Allah subhanho wa Taala.
The prophet SAW Selim said, Allah in the OT tool kita will miss lahoma
the prophet SAW Selim said barely I have been given the book, and simply something similar to it with.
Okay, the prophet SAW Selim, saying that he's been given a kita book
and something similar to it. This is something similar to it, the other revelation and get an inspiration and guidance that the pub homosassa received. This is what we refer to as the Sunnah of the promises.
And this is the other foundation in Islam. This is the other ultimate authority in Islam.
The only ultimate authorities in Islam are the two forms of revelation that have come from all this man what
we don't have any Pope we don't have any body of schooling.
Is there anything that can constitute an ultimate authority
but the ultimate authority is captured only in what has come from Allah subhana wa tada and the revelation, the direct revelation of the Quran and the indirect inspiration and revelation and the Sunnah of the saucer.
And actually it is the Quran itself that points to the importance and the place and the authority of the Sunnah and Islam.
So in reality, if someone by the way claims that he believes in the Quran, and is going to follow the Quran, then this means by definition, that he must also follow the Sunnah of the promises.
So when we accept the authority of the son of the farmhouse,
we are not accepting the authority of the sooner the power system
because the prophets are set him for example is some some divine or something of that nature know the process of them was a human being. And no matter how much we respect the process of them, we will not give his son or his way his teachings, his speech, this kind of authority that we as Muslims give it, unless Allah subhanho wa Taala has commanded us
as commanded commanded us to give such authority to this another.
And so when we read the Quran, we can find in over 40 places in the Quran, in which Allah subhanho wa Taala refers to the summoner the process of them or refers to the importance of obeying the prophets I seldom or refers to the fact that the promise SLM is the exemple for excellence. For those who believe in Allah subhana wa Tada. And the last day, let me just give some examples from the Quran.
Allah subhana wa Tada, for example, says
he who obeys the messenger, has indeed Obaidullah.
But he who turns away, then we have not sent you. Meaning we have not sent the promises as a watcher over them.
So when we obey the messenger, when we obey the messenger, we are actually obeying all this. Because again, it is Allah who has ordered us to obey the messenger. So our act of obedience to the prophet SAW Salem, to the messenger is based on our obedience to Allah subhana wa. And if we turn away, if we refuse to obey the promises, then all of a sudden what God is telling us to look,
telling the prophets, I said, Look, you're not a watch over them, they turn away, they are responsible for them.
And obviously, the implications of that is very clear, they are causing their own destruction. Basically, the province has said, we cannot do anything about that. And about their choices. They everyone makes his own choices in life and some, unfortunately make very bad choices.
Also, Allah subhanho wa Taala makes it very clear to us
that if anyone claims claims to love Allah,
and this was a claim even made during the time of the process, and this revelation came down in response to this claim. If anyone claims to level this man with that, and in general, if someone claims to love God is going to want God to love him in return. But if someone claims to love Allah subhanaw taala, Allah subhanho wa Taala just tells the prophets I send him what they should do, how they should behave, and inshallah what will be the benefit the positive results that hamdulillah if they do follow that path, and listen to what the Allah says in the Quran.
See, and this is by the way, this would
you find it often the Quran, Allah subhanaw taala telling the process, I mean, to say to the people, to tell them so you can say tell them if you if you truly love Allah, then follow me.
So Allah subhanaw taala tells the Prophet if you truly love Allah, then follow me.
Allah will love you and forgive you of your sins and a lot of forgiving, Most Merciful.
So if we truly love a lot of our, you know, belief in Islam is based on our belief in God and
wanting to get closer to God and our love for God, then this command is very clear from Allah that look, if this is the case, if this is truly the case, if you are truly among those people who love God and wish to get closer to God, then you have to follow the problems,
then you have to follow the promises, and we have no choice really, if you believe, I mean, if you claim to love God is true, then you have to follow the promises.
But Alhamdulillah
Alhamdulillah Allah subhanho wa Taala also says, and if you do that, then Allah subhanho wa Taala will love you in return, and will forgive your sins.
And who could not want who could not want this result? You know, it's amazing. It's amazing. One thing that you'll find, unfortunately, among some Muslims, whether new Muslims or Congress or or people who grew up as Muslims, you will actually find some people who have some kind of resistance to following the way of the process. And yet Allah subhanaw taala is telling us look, if you follow the way of the process, then Allah subhanho wa Taala will love you in return and will forgive your sins, who in the right mind would not want this result? Who would reject this result out of his own desires and say no, even though I should follow the Profit System, and it says that I'm not going to
do
and the problem and Allah subhanho wa Taala also says in the Quran.
Indeed, in the Messenger of Allah, you have an excellent, excellent example to follow. For him who hopes in the meeting with a law and the last day and remembers a law much.
So here almost I know what that is describing,
describing the problem assessing them as the excellent example for us.
And this, by the way,
this is a great blessing from all listen, I don't want that
many of you, again, came from Christian or Jewish backgrounds and so forth.
like myself,
and the reality, about of Christianity, for example, maybe Judaism, a little bit different. I come from a Christian background. So I cannot comment too much in Christianity.
But the reality of Christianity is that
in life, you know, if you believe in Jesus, Son of God, and even what is captured of the life of Jesus in the New Testament, you are really lacking a real example in life, how to behave in life,
how to behave under different circumstances, even how to pray, by the way, the Christian the different Christian * groups, they'll have different ways of praying and so forth, where to put the hands and this and that completely different ways. And this all goes back to the fact that they don't have this example. This goes back to the fact that they have lost
their example they have very little details about the problem about the Prophet acla system, but Prophet Jesus peace be upon him. And so therefore, they don't really have this rule model that they can follow. But Alhamdulillah Allah subhanho wa Taala and the Quran has told us who is our role model, and also has preserved his teachings for us. And so we have this, we have this example for
the problem I'm assessing, if we truly believe in Allah and the Last Day, here is our example.
And this by the way, demonstrates for us the relationship between the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet.
When I said they are the two foundations, obviously they are the two or they are two consistent foundations. And one actually is the is the practical implementation and embodiment of the other one. In the Quran, you have the basic and fundamental and general teachings of Islam. Some details laws also but in general you have the in most cases you have the general principles and how to apply those general principles. A lot did not just leave it open to anyone to figure out okay, be modest or or be kind and this and this and I'll do it this way, and you do it that way and so forth.
In reality, all this data gave us the details of how to behave in a way that is consistent with the Quran.
When I show the wife of the Prophet says Adam was asked about the behavior and the character and the ethics of the problem, says Adam,
the Isaiah said
Canada foreign, his behavior was the plan.
In other words, he was as I said, he was the embodiment of the teachings of the Quran. And it gives us the details and the guidelines
and the framework in which we can apply the Quran in our life, a practical implement implementation of how the Quran is to be applied. All of this once again is to save us from being lost from savers from being confused.
And this isn't hamdulillah This is a great blessing from Allah subhanho wa Taala. The sometimes we who converted to Islam
as opposed to someone who grew up in a Muslim culture, sometimes we who converted to Islam, from a Christian in particular Christianity, there are maybe some aspects of Islam that we can appreciate even even more than many Muslims who grew up as Muslims. And I think this is one of the aspects that should make us turn to the sooner the policy and appreciate the sooner and get that guidance and get that example from the policy silom to apply it in our lives.
And let me just try to tackle here in a few minutes is actually could take us a long time. But let me try to tackle a couple of points here.
There has led to confusion among some converts and even other Muslims actually not just numbers.
Some people think for example, that it is obligatory,
to follow the Quran.
And if you follow the Sunnah, it's okay. It's okay if you follow the Sunnah, if you don't really follow the Sunnah, it's also okay it's not that big of an issue, but you have to follow the Quran.
And this is a misconception.
And actually, there's a reason or there's a clear source for part of this misconception.
And that is the fact that the word Suna in the Arabic language or the way it is used by, for example, Muslim jurists as two different and distinct meanings.
Sometimes they use the word Sunnah and referring to the life example of the promises
and it is obligatory,
they will all agree upon this. It is obligatory upon every Muslim to take the example of the pub homosassa them as their example and to try to follow his pattern and his conduct in their lives.
Okay, this is clear from the Quran, we have to obey the promises Adam is the example for us and so forth.
Now, they also use the word sooner.
And this is maybe this is again, where some of the confusion comes in. They also use the word subnet to refer to an act which is less than obligatory.
So for example, if something is obligatory, they refer to it does they use the term forest or what have you.
And then if something is less than obligatory, they call it cinema because some that means a praiseworthy wait. A recommendable act and so forth. So they use this in its linguistic sense or its lexical sense, they use the word sooner to mean a praiseworthy and good way of acting, a good deed and so forth.
And as I said, this has led to confusion among many people, not just recently converted Muslims and so forth. So they are using the word and completely different context in completely different ways.
If you go to the Quran, for example,
the Quran sometimes commands us to do certain things. And when Allah subhanaw taala commands us to do something, we consider this act to be an obligation.
And then there's other acts in the Quran in which you're listening to without us recommending something for us to do, for example, recording a debt.
Most scholars agree that this is not an obligation, it is a recommended practice, if it is recommended, therefore, it is a sooner
if it is recommended, therefore, it is sooner, it is a good way, a praiseworthy way. But it is not obligatory in the language of the jurists. So this is something from the Quran. This is something from the Quran, and they will call it pseudo meaning not obligatory.
On the other hand, you can find things from the Sunnah in which the prophets I said him has ordered us to do things.
And these things are obligations. Anything that promises cinemas ordered us to do in a strict manner, this means this is an obligation. So this is an obligation. So this is obligatory in the language of the jurist. It is not certainly in the language of the jurors.
So they are using two different terms. So don't worry too much about the details of the of that maybe you'll have to listen to this lecture a few more times to get the details of what the
I don't want to spend too much time on it. But the point what I'm saying is that the Quran and Sunnah actually are the two foundations of Islam.
And they're both equally considered inspiration and revelation from God. And so, therefore, it is required upon us to take them both as the ultimate source, we cannot reject the sooner we cannot say alpha, the sooner sometimes not for other other other times, we're talking about the practice of the processor. His entire practice is our example, our exact complete example.
So, anything that comes from the Policy Center, anything that comes from the Quran as a strict command, then this is a brick toolbar. So, in other words, an action can be obligatory, regardless of whether it is rooted in the Quran or in the sooner the problem assessment
and anything that we have been recommended to do and not obligated in a strict sense, then these would be considered recommended acts regardless of whether it is from the Quran or from the Sunnah of the processor. So, every Muslim is obliged to look at the Quran and the Sunnah of the process as the ultimate sources
and you cannot take and pick what you want either from the Quran or from the some of the processes,
you have to take it as a whole
and whatever the Sunnah implies you have to accept. So, the sun implies that something is obligatory, you have to take it as obligatory, if the sooner implies something is recommended, then you take it as recommended if the sooner implies that something is permissible, you take it as permissible.
So you do not distinguish or you do not make a big break between the grandson and say, you have to follow the Quran. And if you follow the sun, it's good. Otherwise, if you don't do it, it's okay.
This is a grave error. Again, to maybe explain in detail would take too long. But I hope the point is clear here that both the Quran and Sunnah we both take them completely and together we do not pick and choose from them. And whatever they imply concerning an action, we take it as they are the sources of Islam and we submit to whatever to whatever they like.
And another important point about the sooner the processor, as I said the sooner the processes are captured in what are known as the Hadith literature. So the Hadith, a single Hadith is some kind of report, some kind of report about the sooner the process.
Like it's a narration that this says that the prophet SAW Selim said this, or he did this and so forth. So where this is captured, this is captured in what is known as the Hadith.
Now, many people when they translate the word, Hadith, they translate it, especially non Muslim, what are known as orientalist non Muslim specialist sorts was a specialist. on Islam, they many times translate these as traditions.
Personally, I think the choice of that word was very calculated. Because one of the first things that they tried to do when entering the Muslim lands, was to cast doubt upon the seminar, the Bible says enemy cast doubt upon the Hadith, because they knew that if they could divorce the Muslims from the sun or the power system, and just leave them with the Quran, the Quran could be open to many interpretations, and many ways of viewing it. And basically, you have stripped Islam of its essence.
So they use the word traditions for Hadeeth. And this gives the idea that it's just something that was passed on haphazardly, just something that oh, you know, the old people in the in the, in the community passed it on, and this is what they're saying we should do, and not do and so forth. So it takes away some of the authority of the Hadith. When choosing words to describe Islam, they are many times very careful in what they what they choose.
And to try to attack or belittle Islam and so forth, including words like fundamentalists and so forth, we have to be very careful with what they they choose. Because they're not may not actually reflect what reality is. And that is the case again, with this word, choosing the word traditions, which makes it sound like it was something not nothing that's not necessarily very authentic and so forth. But this is in reality this is not true. This is not the case with respect to the Hadith of the prophets that said I'm obviously the Quran is a small book. As I said, People could memorize it, it was easy to pass on the Quran with with its proper preservation and so forth as it's a very
limited text. That is the
was a different matter because the headings were unlike any speech of the province I sent him over all those years in which he was conveying the message. However, at the same time, from the earliest days of Islam, the Muslims understood that they had to preserve the Hadith of the processor, that this was also part of the inspiration from from God. And so therefore, they had to be very careful and preserving the Hadith and processing. And so therefore, they laid down very stringent standards that every Hadith had to meet in order for it to be considered authentic and sound.
You know, they would, they would study the people who are narrating Hadith, they would study the person's individual character, they would study his, his academic qualities, whether or not to make some mistakes, when he's recording or when he's narrating and so forth, they would trace his authority or you know, or is he narrating this from all the way back to the process of them. And so therefore, they made them very stringent standards for it. And they realize that people, even honest people can make mistakes, they realize that, and they also realize that not everybody is honest, and some people might try to enter something into the religion that doesn't belong. And so therefore,
they sifted and sorted through the headings. And they distinguish those headings which are authentic from those headings, which are to be rejected. And so therefore, when we talk about the solar power system, and we talk about Hadeeth, as an authority, we're actually only talking about those headings that have met the stringent standards. So you'll probably hear these terms, often the word sight. So hate means inauthentic. It This is like the highest level of authenticity. And the word hasn't, hasn't been as good quality. These are the two acceptable kinds of Hadith for Islamic law.
If I had it does not meet the proper criteria, the stringent criteria that they laid down through they will not be considered. So it will not be considered has an answer. Therefore, it will not be acceptable in Islamic law, it will not be acceptable as a basis for belief or anything of that nature. And so the sooner the problems are set up, as I said, is captured in the Hadith literature. And from the Hadith literature, the scholars have distinguish what is authentic and what isn't authentic, and this process of grading and judging Hadith and distinguishing between those who are passing on property and so forth. As I said, it began during the earliest periods of Islam, even
during the time of the prophet SAW Selim some aspects of it, like the recording on Hadith and so forth, begin. And so therefore, there was no period of time in which the Hadith were lost, or that the door was open to wide scale fabrication or anything of that nature. So the ideas have been preserved, the sooner in essence, therefore has been preserved, the Quran has been preserved. And these are the two foundations upon which we have to base our life as Muslims.
So with respect to some of the translations have they actually recently I've noticed a lot of new translations on the market. And
many of them I haven't had the time actually to really read in any detail. But there are there are a couple of well known translations that have been the respective many, many people have read them in detail and studied them. There are some of the older translations that the English for example, Mohammed pixel, and Abdullah Yusuf Ali,
in some of the and some of the verses that they translated, of course, they
did an excellent job in the translation, but for many people, the language is a little bit difficult for them to to understand. One of the translations which is one of the better translations with respect to the meanings that it conveys is what is known as the Noble Quran, English translation of the meanings and commentary Translated by El helali and Mohammed, Muslim Kadena Hill, Halley and Mohammed Muslim Han.
This translation has been around for many years and it is it is widely available. And as I said, with respect to the meaning that it conveys, it follows very closely what you could call the standard in the traditional understanding of the Quran. Unfortunately, they have done some things with respect to adding many things in parentheses and brackets that make it sometimes a little bit difficult to read and understand. Exactly, you know, what is from the verse and what is it that they are adding as mere explanation and so forth. So therefore, just as a, just as a translation of the Quran, something easy to read and clear and modern English
and whose meanings is consistent with what is understood what has been understood meanings of the Quran for four centuries now. The translation
By aurizona psi International, usually you see the cover saying the Quran Arabic text with corresponding English meaning Translation by sohei. International. That one the meanings, the translation is good. The English is easy to read. It's not archaic, there's not a lot of parentheses and brackets and so forth to kind of confuse you as you're reading as you're reading it.
But obviously, again, as I said,
you want to have
an in depth understanding of the Quran.
And so therefore, you want to study it, even beyond the simple meanings of its translation.
And over the years of Hamdulillah, there have been there have been many scholars who have spent years studying the Quran, and understanding its details. And its details are derived from
not just derived from their own head, so to speak, but there they are derived from the principles of the Arabic language that the Quran uses. They are derived by understanding the Quran with respect to other verses of the Quran, they are derived by understanding the Quran with respect to the Sunnah, and the words and actions of the promise of Salah, which are, as we said, kind of explanation and implementation of the Quran. And so therefore, if a scholar is well versed in the sin of the promises of them, it also makes his understanding of the Quran better.
And so there are many reasons why people will be at different levels of their understanding of the Quran. And we want to try to benefit from that great knowledge that they have amassed, and that great insight that they have into the Quran.
And we get that by studying their commentaries on the Quran.
Obviously in the in the Arabic language, as well as in all of the Muslim languages, whether it is Urdu or Malaysian or Turkish. So there have been numerous commentaries in the Quran.
In English language, we have a number of them appearing
one of the shortcomings of some of them, perhaps the majority of them is that they are simply translations from another language into English.
And so therefore, they have not been written with the English speaker or English audience in mind.
And some of them the majority of them are also not from this generation or this past couple of centuries. And so therefore, they're also not necessarily written with the contemporary Muslim in mind as well. However, that being said, there are still some commentaries on the Quran available in English that we can inshallah benefit from.
They're probably not of the quality, at least what I've seen so far, they're not of the quality of what is available and Arabic obviously. But of course that has to be that is to be expected, I would say.
One of the works that is available nowadays is this tin boy himself that I'm holding here to serum and Katia abridged
published by darussalam.
said it's 10 volumes. And I've been told I believe that is also available on the internet. This book.
This book is again, this is actually a translation of one of the classic works of procedure.
And the author is even crazier and even crazier. In doing his commentary on the front end, Katia was very consistent in applying the principles or we can call the principles of Quranic exegesis with respect to the rules of the Arabic language, relying on the Hadith lipolysis and being consistent with the other verses of the Quran and so forth.
Now, once again, as I alluded to earlier, obviously, even if he had lived some about 700 years ago, and he was also writing in the Arabic language and read writing for an audience and writing actually for specific really group of Muslims more towards the learned and educated at that time. And so, therefore, the style,
the style of this, and this is just an abridgment by the way of his original work. I know it looks like 10 boys, it should be the whole work, but the actual, by the way, the actual work that this 10 volumes is a translation of is all in one large one voice, the Arabic language. But
in any case, the style is not exactly maybe what will what will appeal to many new Muslims to many to many English speakers and so forth, but
However, it is an excellent reference work, something that you should keep. If you have the ability to purchase it or get it. It is, I think, something that you should keep with you. And especially if there's some verses that there's some misunderstanding about or something of that nature. It'll be very good to go to this work to see what is the hurry of explaining it, what are the explanations from the companions of the Prophet SAW Solomon, other early scholars.
Now there's also
a number of volumes published by a contemporary author.
His name is abuzz here,
he spells the Z h er.
And his tafsir is called tafsir. Schrock
being a quintessence of Quranic commentaries.
And in this work,
he is relying on classical Arabic works as well as on works available in Urdu and also on works that were done before him in the English language. The number of volumes of this
work has been has been published. I don't believe I'm not certain about this, but I don't believe the entire Quran is available as of yet. But over half the Quran is available on the series. It's available in places like Al Bashir and other or many other outlets.
And again, this the author is a contemporary, so he's writing actually,
in English, and he's writing towards an English speaker, and he's writing in contemporary times. So this one is a little bit easier for many people, too many English speakers are not that familiar yet, with the Islamic literature, this one is a little bit easier for them to handle and to understand. And for the most part it is it is very good. There's some parts in there, which personally I would have preferred, maybe would have left out, but there's always going to be some differences of that nature. Again, another important work that is available. Also in many volumes, I'm not sure exactly how many volumes, I know there's at least 10 or 11 volumes in this set. And
this is in the shade of the Quran by sage.
Again, this is a translation from Arabic into English Bye, a Muslim
leader who a Muslim scholar who died in the 1960s.
And this work is very much different from what you would call the classic common quote unquote, on a common case to the to the extent that some, some people even say it is not the Tafseer but in any case, it gives you a very general meaning of the Quran and it tries to give you like what is the Spirit? What is the spirit of the verses that he's talking about? He tries to tie in the, the historical context of the verse with what is the the meaning of that is trying to give and then how to apply that in our lives today. It is one of the most influential
series in the Arabic language and contemporary times.
And it is definitely an important contribution to the English literature on the Quran. As I said, there are actually many, many now translations and many commentaries on the Quran.
A number of commentaries not many, but there's a number of commentaries on the Quran English.
But I think we'll have to leave it at that for now. Let me discuss a little bit about the headache of the process and what is available in English regarding the headache of the processor.
The headache is wizard or the son of the processor and goes hand in hand with the Quran as being the foundations of Islam has been the inspiration and the revelation from Allah subhanho wa Taala that all Muslims must believe in an act upon an implement in their life.
So therefore, the Hadith It is also very important to have access to the Hadeeth of processing
some of the standard works, some of the standard works of hided collections have been translated into English. And one of these is this work here this nine volume set. So hey Buhari, translated by Dr. Mohammed muscle Han.
I mentioned earlier the translation of the Quran by Han and he really this is the same Hammond Muslim Han.
And this is, as I said, publishing nine volumes by darussalam.
And what's nice, what is nice about this edition in every addition that I've seen from Amazon, you have the Arabic on one side of the page and you have the English on the other side of the of the page. So it gives you the original work.
Right there.
And this is Sai Buhari. This work that this is a translation of this is considered the most authentic collection of Hadith in the Arabic language. In general, you can say that all of the Hadith in this work are considered authentic,
they have meet the stringent standards of authenticity and acceptance among the scholars of Hadith. So this this is a very important work a very important reference. And as I said, it is available and nine volumes and English. There's another important work this one right here.
And this is a Muslim, and this is translated by Abdul Hamid sudip.
And most of the additions that I have seen of this citizen four volumes, but it does not have the it does not have the Arabic word it is just just the English translation. So you are missing here, the original work. However, there are some differences between Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, so hot is much more technically speaking, it's much more, especially for new Muslim and so forth, it is a little bit different, more difficult to handle because of the style of Horry. And sometimes he would place headings in different put into different parts and put it in the rubber robe and places. In his book, all of these, both of these collections are arranged according to the topic of the
headings.
And also this addition of side Buhari that we have in English contains no commentary or virtually, I should say virtually no commentary whatsoever. So the Muslim, the one who's reading it, sometimes there can be some Hadith, they might have some difficulty understanding exactly what is the implication? What is the correct understanding of that Hadith. And this can at times lead to some problems when people take this Harry's and kind of run with it and think that they've understand the meaning when in fact, perhaps they have not.
So one of the nice things about the hemming siliqua is
translation of the Sahih Muslim is he does provide some some commentary not not a great detail, but at least at least when there's some difficult issues he tries to offer some kind of guidance that will help the Muslim there is another there are other works available in English like shown in epidote and so on mascota nasai has another collection is available in English and so forth. These two books I bought in Samos, and one of the important aspects concerning these two books is that they are collections of authenticating. Many of the other collections of Hadith, you will find Hadith which are authentic and had it which are not authentic, not accepted by by discourse. But
these two collections. In general, these are entirely authentically for new Muslim, let me just point out a couple of other books that I think will be very beneficial for for a new Muslim.
One is a collection of Hadith by a Naui called guardians of the righteous and the other sort of pain. And there's a number of translations of this available now in English and some of them have some commentaries on it.
In general, if you can get a book with of Hadith, which has some commentary on I think they will help you more than simply the Hadith itself. But this collection gardens of the righteous, but no, it covers a wide range of topics and really gives you really gives you a basic understanding the basics of ethics and morality and behavior and Islam. And so, therefore, this is a highly recommended work. And now he also has a smaller work called the 40 hadith of Unknowing. And this is also a number of translations of this herbal and in this and in this work the 40 Hadith.
And now he has collected
is actually contains 42 Hadith, but his collected together this hadith which you could say maybe form the basis of Islam. In other words, if you if you take this hadith and really understand them properly and really internalize them, you will really be living your life as a true Muslim as a true believer in Allah Subhan Allah. So these are this, this one is only as I said, 40 to have youth in reality, this is a book you can take you can read this Hadith, easily, quickly. You can even memorize them and inshallah they'll be very important to be a guide in your life inshallah.
Obviously, again, there's many other words available in English, but we have to inshallah move on at this point. And let me speak about some of the basics of the faith.
Again, this series of lectures is for the new Muslim. So therefore I understand that probably every one of you has studied Islam to some extent you have some basic understanding of Islam,
but I want to or I feel it's necessary to cover some
The important introductory basic foundational aspects of Islam because, in reality, when someone becomes a Muslim, if you take all of the converts to Islam as a whole,
there is no systematic approach that they have to that they that they have to take. And so, therefore, there might be some aspects, there might be some
very basic aspects that they are not quite understanding it or they haven't been exposed to, and this could actually come later and their Muslim life and actually cause some confusion cause some problem for them later in their lives. So therefore, it is it is important, maybe inshallah, that we cover some of these issues at the very beginning, so then inshallah they will have no negative effect and the future
I want to inshallah begin with the meaning of the word Islam itself.
If someone understands what the meaning of the word Islam is,
and someone understands what the meaning of the word Muslim is,
This in itself will have a positive effect on his outlook and on his behavior and how he implements the deen.
Because, especially nowadays,
especially nowadays, you hear a lot in the media and you hear even Muslims making the statement that Islam means peace.
So, as I said, it's important that a Muslim at least understands the what, what it means to be a Muslim what Islam really is all about. And so the for for it's important to realize that the word Islam does not mean peace. Yes, it is true that the word Islam comes from the same root as the word Salaam or the word for peace. And it is also true that we believe that you will not have as we'll speak about shortly, you will never have true peace, either internally, or externally, unless you have Islam. Yes, that's all true.
But that does not mean that Islam means peace.
If Islam and peace and being a Muslim means for example, someone who is bringing about peace, then that becomes your ultimate and only go
and everything becomes subservient to that goal of whatever you define to be peace.
But that is not what Islam is. Islam. The word Islam
is what is known as the verbal noun or muster of the of the verb as lemma.
And this verb means, as lemma. If you say Islam, it means he resigned, or he submitted himself.
With respect to God, it means he became submissive to God.
So Islam, what Islam entails is not simply, for example, the recognition of the oneness of God, or the recognition of the fact that the creator exists,
or anything of that nature, but Islam actually something much greater than that.
It is about the conscious decision made by the individual to worship and to submit
to one and only one God, Allah, the only God.
So it is about submitting to God.
It is about surrendering yourself, and giving up.
Even you can call it giving up what they call freedom,
giving up yourself to God and accepting God's lordship over you.
And so therefore, you yield and you accept whatever God has ordered you to do.
So this understanding this is obviously very far from just the idea of peace. And this is not Islam doesn't mean peace. But Islam means the submission and the devotion to God where the individual submits himself and accepts the fact that Allah is his gut and his Lord, and He will bow down to him and he will submit to Him and He will do his best to implement whatever, whatever God requires him. Obviously, this complete submission and proper submission must be based on whatever God has told you or whatever God has revealed to human beings.
So it is a submission to God based on what what Allah has revealed and what Allah has demanded from human beings.
And in this sense, Islam has been the religion of all of the true believers in God since the first human being
all
The prophets of God, all of the true prophets of God have been Muslims.
They have submitted themselves to Allah Subhana with that.
And that's a lesson and with that, speaking through the promises, Selim tells the process him.
The same religion has established for you as that which enjoyed upon Noah, that which we have sent by inspiration to you, and that which we have enjoyed on enjoying on Abraham, Moses and Jesus,
all of these messengers of God, or the messengers were Muslims, they were submitting to that, and submitting to God alone.
And this is what it means to be Muslim.
There is a lengthy passage and sort of the Baccarat the second chapter in verses 127 to 141.
I think it is important that we that somebody goes to them and read them and from that you'll be able to understand really, what is Islam? What are we talking about as Islam? And what does it mean to be a Muslim?
So in this passage, you're listening, and we're speaking versus speaking about the Prophet Abraham. These people are him and his son, Ishmael peace be upon him, and they are raising the foundations of the house of worship in Aqaba.
And they make the pray to Allah
or Lord, and make us submissive unto you, and of our offspring, a nation submissive unto
you look at these words here that were written the the Arabic And you see, so Abraham Ali ceram is making this dua to Allah, Allah make us muslimeen What's the main look, make us submissive unto you, and our children, make them an oma a nation, Muslim and look, there are submitting to you. So Abraham Ali ceram is making this dua to Allah or make us people who are submissive unto Muslims.
And then later in the passage is 130 to 135. Allah subhanho wa Taala says,
if
you're in
to be
Muslim,
and the translation of these verses begins by saying and who turns away from the religion of Abraham accepts him who before themselves.
Truly we chose them in this world and barely in the Hereafter, he will be among the righteous. When his Lord said to him, submit, again from the same route, as Muslim Submit.
He said, I have submitted myself to the Lord of the worlds again from the same slim to I've submitted myself to the Lord of the world.
And this was enjoined by Abraham upon his sons and by Jacob
saying, Oh, my sons are less chosen for you the true religion than die not accept as Muslims as those people are submitting only to Allah subhanaw taala and obviously based upon what God has commanded him
to eat,
Mirza boo
boo Muslim, mostly moon
And then it continues, says over you witnesses when death approach Jacob when he said unto his sons, what will you worship after me? They said, We shall worship your God, the God of your fathers, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, one God, and to Him, we submit, that was a nation was passed away, they still receive the reward of what they earn and you have what you earn. And you will not be asked of what they used to do. And they say, and then Allah subhana wa tada Here begins to refer to the Jews and the Christians, and they say, Be Jews or Christians, then you will be guided.
So Allah subhana wa Tada, does the process, say no, we say to them, no, but we only follow the religion of Abraham, of pure monotheism. And he was not the those who worship others along with Allah. There's a lot of talk nowadays about the children of Abraham and the monotheistic faiths and so forth. And yet, as this passage continues, if you read the rest of the verses that I referred to, it makes it very clear that, you know, Abraham, for example, is not a Jew or Christian Abraham has nothing to do with the Christian belief in Trinity and so forth. But Abraham was a Muslim, he was someone who submitted only through Allah subhana wa Tada.
And so therefore, he was a Muslim. And the true path is not the path of any other way except the path of submitting to Allah subhanho wa Taala. And so therefore, I listen to what Allah says, to us, as Muslims proclaim all Muslims, we believe in Allah, and that which has been sent down to us and that which has been sent out to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and to the 12, sons of Jacob, that which was, has been given to Moses and Jesus, and that which has been given to the profits from the Lord.
We make no distinction between any of them and to him. We have submitted in Islam.
So actually, when you when you become Muslim, when you become Muslim, you're actually entering into a brotherhood and sisterhood of
this religion that extends from the time of Adam Madison, all the way until the last human being on this earth.
These are all of the true Muslims. All of the people who submitted themselves only to Allah subhana wa tada and submitted themselves in the proper way, based upon what Allah Allah has revealed to them.
This is the general overall meaning of Islam. So inshallah on that point, I will in this particular lecture,